Seems today, November 5, is Guy Fawkes day. We'd seen advertisements about fireworks for various cities, and a Monday night seemed rather unexpected for fireworks.
Tonight we went into the mineral pool at our hotel in Rotorua which is an extremely active geothermal area. It's 40 degrees C, so much like a hot tub, though instead of a faint whiff of chlorine one gets a faint whiff of sulfur. Faint, as in, it's not bad. We look up and there are fireworks in a couple of directions. Of course there are fireworks, it's November 5.
A bit of googling revealed the mystery. Seems Guy Fawkes was a famous British traitor. He was one of 12 men who plotted to blow up the House of Parliament (or maybe the House of Lords) back in 1605. There's a great little poem that starts "Remember, remember, the fifth of November...." Anyway, the British -- and New Zealanders -- commemorate the occasion with fireworks. It's kind of the kickoff of summer, much the way Memorial Day seems to be at home, though combined with Independence Day in terms of fireworks.
Yet another example of how travel can be educational.
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